This is the result of a comparative study of people's attitudes to volunteering in Japan and the UK. Japan has seen a sharp rise in volunteering after the Hanshin earthquake in 1995 and the UK has a long history of volunteering. The surveys were carried out in January 1998 in the Tokyo metropolitan area for the Japanese samples and in the Birmingham area for the UK samples. Hayashi's Quantification 111 was used to analyze the data.For the Japanese samples, the attitude structures were interpreted as follows :1st Axis - Attitudes to social reform through volunteering : 'Pro-change' vs 'Anti-change'2nd Axls - Level and nature of involvement In volunteering : 'Direct Involvement' vs ' Indirect involvement'3rd Axis - Organizational response to volunteering : 'Individual action' vs 'Organizational action'For the UK samples, the following interpretations were made :1st Axis - Attitudes to social reform through volunteering : 'Pro-change' vs 'Anti-change'2nd Axis - Level of dependence on society : 'Pro-independence' vs 'Pro-dependence'3rd Axis - Level and nature of involvement in volunteering : 'Direct involvement' vs ' Indirect involvement'From these attitude structures, we can read the following characteristics.Firstly, the attitudes to volunteering in both countries are formed by diverse and contrasting ideas.Secondly, people's attitudes to volunteering in both countries are not only diverse, but there are common attitude patterns. 'Pro-change' vs 'Anti-change' attitude (the first axis) and 'Direct involvement' vs 'Indirect involvement' attitude (the second axis In Japan and the third axis In the UK) are common attitudes and the remaining attitude pattern (the third axis in Japan and the second axis in the UK) also shows similar attitude characteristics.